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This newly revised edition includes up-to-date information and historical photographs on everything you need to know about the Last Frontier, all in one travel-friendly package.
Alaska's rich and cultural history comes to life in this vivid, take-along account. Travel to the Far North and discover the origins of Russian America and the effects of the fur trade, Native lifestyles before and after European contact, John Muir's visit to Glacier Bay, the Klondike gold rush, exploits of Alaska Bush pilots, big game hunting in the North Country and famous fisheries, and more. Five new chapters cast light on more modern subjects, such as the strengthening stance of Alaska Natives in politics, the impact of a changing climate on the fish and wildlife, the future of coastal villages by the sea, and the state of Alaska looking forward today. A history book that's fun to read, Alaska's History provides a look into the deep story behind the United States' 49th state, from its glorious past to its challenging present.
List of contents
ALASKA: THE GREAT LAND
1. Alaska, Past and Present
NATIVE TRADITIONS
2. Alaska’s First Peoples
3. Baidarka: The Unangâx Way
4. Inua: The Eskimo World
5. Athabascans of the Interior
6. People of the Rain Forest: Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian
7. Crossroads of Cultures: Alutiiq/Sugpiaq Heritage in Alaska’s Gulf
RUSSIAN AMERICA: THE FORGOTTEN FRONTIER
8. Promyshlenniki and the Russian Fur Trade
9. First Contacts: The Voyages of Bering and Chirikov
10. In the Russians’ Wake: British and French Explorers
11. Malaspina and the Spanish Incursions
12. Lord of Alaska: Alexander Baranov
13. Apostle of Alaska: Father Ivan Veniaminov
14. Yankee Whalers
EXPLORERS, ADVENTURERS, AND NATURALISTS: AMERICA’S NEW FRONTIER
15. Seward’s Folly
16. Pursuing Manifest Destiny
17. The Fur Seal Rush
18. Rumrunners of the Inside Passage
19. Sheldon Jackson: Christian Soldier of the Great Land
20. John Muir and Glacier Bay
21. Gold Fever Before the Klondike Strike
22. The Klondike Stampede
23. Stirring Days in Skagway
24. New Eldorados: Nome and Fairbanks
25. The Yukon: Highway to the Interior
26. Frontier Tourism: Alaska with Baedeker
ALASKA IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY: FROM TERRITORY TO STATEHOOD
27. After ’98
28. Pioneer Judge: James W. Wickersham
29. A Young Girl’s Fairbanks
30. King Copper
31. Anchorage and the Iron Horse
32. Bush Pilots
33. The “Thousand-Mile War”: The Aleutian Campaign of World War II
34. The “Military Rush” and the Alaska Highway
35. The Politics of Statehood
GEOGRAPHY, CLIMATE, AND NATURAL EXTREMES
36. Not One Land, But Many
37. Arc of Fire: Volcanoes of the Great Land
38. Earthquakes and Tsunamis
39. Mountaineers and Denali
40. Sydney Laurence and the Northern Landscape
41. New Deal Agriculture: The Matanuska Experiment
42. Sled Dogs and the Iditarod
ECONOMICS AND THE ENVIRONMENT
43. Growth, Conservation, Preservation: Alaska’s Essential Tension
44. The Story of Salmon
45. The Fishing Industry
46. Hunting in Alaska
47. Alaska’s Marine Highway
48. The Oil Boom
49. The Spill
50. Coming to Terms with Native Land Claims
51. Pride and Prejudice
52. Caribou and North Country Politics
PRESERVING THE GREAT LAND
53. Renewed Traditions: The Renaissance of Native Arts
54. Last Frontier or Lasting Frontier?
55. ANCSA and its Discontents
56. The State of Alaska
Related Reading
Index
About the author
Harry Ritter is Emeritus Professor of History at Western Washington University, where he taught from 1969 to 2010. He is the author of Washington’s History: The People, Land, and Events of the North Country and Alaska’s History: The People, Land, and Events of the North Country. Harry lives in Bellingham, Washington.
Summary
"A travel-sized history book on Alaska, with up-to-date information and historical photographs about the Last Frontier's past and present."--
Foreword
- Reviews and excerpts in regional, educational, history, and travel media.
- Paid, targeted, social media advertising.
- Targeted blurbs from AK VIP contacts at tourism, Governor's office, Historical Society, etc.
- Giveaways of excerpt at Alaska Travel Industry Conference in October; featured at PNBA and PNLA.
